TAX EQUALITY

08.29.13

IRS: Same-Sex Couples Can File Jointly

Susan Walsh/AP

File this in the rare “good tax news” category. The Internal Revenue Service and the Treasury Department announced that legally married same-sex couples will be allowed to file tax returns together no matter where they live. On Thursday Treasury Secretary Jack Lew released a statement saying the decision assures that “they can move freely throughout the country, knowing that their federal filing status will not change.” The move comes in the wake of the Supreme Court’s ruling against the Defense of Marriage Act in June and allows same-sex couples married before then to file amended tax returns for past years.